1. Field Of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a holder for dental and medical instruments and, in particular, to an instrument holder which allows for easy sterilization of the instrument and holder between uses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Instrument holders have been used in the fields of medicine and dentistry for many years and are well known to practitioners. These holders provide a location for instruments to be placed and stored when they are not in use. Examples of such holders are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,904,841 and 4,330,281.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,841 is directed to a holder for a powered handpiece which provides means for interrupting the power to the handpiece and also includes a lockout feature for selectively maintaining the interruption of power while the handpiece remains removed from the holder. U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,281 teaches an improved dental handpiece holder which grips the handpiece at the region of the grip portion adjacent to the tailstock portion and is provided with a plurality of supporting surfaces which differ from the conventional holding receptacle for improving the use of the instrument.
While the aforementioned patents may improve the ease of use and accessibility of the instrument, there is an important problem which is not addressed by these, or any other, patents. This problem arises due to the fact that medical and dental instruments become directly, or indirectly, contaminated with blood and other bodily fluids during dental procedures, causing the instrument holder to become contaminated. Thus, if the instrument holder is not properly sterilized between patients, it is possible to transmit serious diseases from one patient to another by way of a contaminated instrument holder. This may happen if a dental instrument is used on an infected patient and is returned to the instrument holder. If the instrument holder becomes contaminated, it may serve as a reservoir of an infectious pathogen. Therefore, if the instrument holder itself is not sufficiently sterilized between patients, any instrument inserted into the holder will be contaminated, even if the instrument itself has been properly sterilized between patient uses, and may infect subsequent patients.
Awareness of these conditions has been heightened recently with reports of HIV transmission in the dental operatory. With the realization that HIV (the virus which causes the deadly AIDS disease) or potentially deadly diseases, including viral hepatitis and tuberculosis, can be transmitted in the dental office, infection control has become an increasingly important issue. If both contaminated instruments and instrument holders are not properly sterilized, diseases may be transmitted from patient to patient in the dental office, with death a possible consequence.
Current instrument holders used in dental offices are not designed to be sterilized between patients. These holders are typically formed as a single unit which is permanently affixed or mounted within the dental operatory using screws, bolts, or adhesives. Thus, there is no efficient manner by which the holders can be removed for proper sterilization.